Fulfillment of a Desire and More!

At the end of June your grateful Peasant had been given

the wonderful opportunity to engage in something that I

have long wanted to do but didn't get the opportunity 

until now at 67 years; two-thirds of a century! Sometimes

something is better late than never.

What is this wonderful thing, you ask? The Peasant took 

part in a political debate. My first ever. Both it  --- and I --- 

were great! Three days before the event I received a call

from an old friend and fellow conservative activist who 

asked if I would like to be in a political debate. My response 

was "When and where?" After getting the details I made my

 arrangements to be there where I would be joined by my

conservative friend and two liberal friends, one of whom

was the organizer of the event and its host. He brought along

two hourglasses, one with a one-minute flow and the other

a two-minute instrument. We each chose a political topic and 

were given two minutes each to present our topics, after which

the others would have one minute to respond either in agree-

ment or in opposition. Then the presenter of the topic would 

get a minute to rebut the latter. We would go around the table 

to get everyone involved in the various roles in the proceedings,

then close and have refreshments together; we were at an ice

cream parlor in Wauwatosa and had fantastic ice cream and

cool beverages, which were an even bigger treat because we 

were at an outdoor table on an oppressively hot afternoon

complete with unrelenting sun.

My topic was "President Trump is Not a Fascist", in which I first

defined what fascism is, then gave examples of how our president 

has not governed as a fascist and is therefore not a fascist. 

My conservative chum gave a fine speech in corroboration while 

our liberal friends did their best to poke holes in my points but to

no avail. Amazingly, astonishingly, and almost shockingly, there 

were no angry words, no angry outbursts, no rancor at all. Even

though we all are good friends we walked through dangerous 

territory which could have resulted in the hardest feelings and

serious feuding. But with our strong bonds of friendship, and our

desire to have a debate without any negativity we accomplished 

what we intended. Furthermore, we have established a debate club

which will meet on a monthly basis and at various venues, be they

our homes or restaurants, pubs, parks, or indeed ice cream parlors.

We want to show that it is possible, desirable, and necessary to 

have discussions of the issues of the day while taking a calm,

measured approach and even a bit of collegiality to the activity.

With the divisiveness in our country in which even friends and 

families are acrimoniously divided, we could promote healing 

and, dare I say, friendship.

I am proud to be a charter member of such a fine group of people

with this shared purpose and these goals. I shall be sharing the 

related events as they unfold over time, among which I hope to 

include the club and its concept catching on. And boy, debating 

is a lot of fun!

MEM